Method of treating fibrous or cellulose materials.



J. H. KETGHESON. METHOD OF TREATING FIBROUS 0B CELLULOSB MATERIALS.APPLICATION FILED my 22. 1908. xmnawnn DBO. 20, 1909.

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UNITED STATES ENT JOHN H. KETCHESON, OF ST. LOUIS,.MISSOURI, ASSIGI\TORTO UNITED STATES FIBRE STOPPER COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ACORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

METHOD OF TREATING FIBROUS OR GEIILULOSE MATERIALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 22, 1908, Serial No. 434,403.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911. Renewed December 20, 1909. Serial No. 534,161.

To all 11:71am it may concern:

Be it known that I,- J OI-IN I-I. Knronnson, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at h't. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Methods of l.reating Fibrous or CelluloseMaterials, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which'Figure 1 is a sectional view taken through the center of a bottlestopper treated in accordance with my improved method; and

. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a simple form. of apparatusfor practicing my improved method.

y This invention relates to the manufacture of fibrous or cellulosematerials and articles.

The main object of my invention is to pro vide a method of treatingfibrous or cellulose materials that will produce a material which isimpervious, insoluble, and also tough and resilient.

Briefly described, my method consists in coating fibrous or cellulosematerial with a solution containing rubber or some other suitablesubstance and thereafter forcing the rubber or similar substance in saidcoating into the pores of the material by means of air under pressure.After the material has been thoroughly impregnated with the rubber inthe solution it is dried and then vulcanized so as to make it insoluble,and, if desired, the material can be burnished to impart a smooth andpolished surface thereto. This method can be used for treating anymaterial that is more or less porous, such, for example, as woven orfelted fabrics or articles made from such fabrics, .pulp fiber materialsor articles, asbestos fabrics or articles, and cellulose articles orfabrics.

I, of course, realize that numerous other materials than those mentionedcan be treated according to my method and while I have not specificallyreferred to such materials, I do not, wish it to be understood that Iconsider my method limited to the treatment of the materials andarticles herein specified.

In the drawings I have shown a bottle stopper made from molded pulpfiber and treated according to my method, but it will, of course, beobvious that this same method can be employed for treating anyarticlemade from any fibrous or cellulose material. I prefer to treatthe material after it has been shaped or formed into an article, but, iflesired,'thc material-could be treated first and then shaped or formedinto an article.

In Fig. 2 I have diagrammatically illustrated a simple form of apparatusfor practicing my improved method, said apparatus comprising a tank 1adapted to receive the filling solution and in which tank'is arranged arotary container 2, preferably constructed of reticulated material, andwhich container is carried by an arm 3 which can be raised and loweredin order to dip the container and its contents in the solution containedin the tank 1.

\Vhile the container 2 is being raised and lowered to dip the articlesin the impregnating liquid, said container is rotated by means of asprocket-chain 2 operating on suitable sprocket wheels and whichrotating means is driven in any suitable manner, preferably by means ofa belt 2 operating on a belt-wheel 2 located on the shaft which carriesone of the sprocket wheels.

4 designates a vacuum pump, and leading therefrom to the tank 1 is apipe 5 in which is located a valve 6.

7 designates an air compressor, and leading therefrom to a compressedair-tank 8, is a pipe 9 in which is located a check valve 10. Leadingfrom the tank 8 to the tank 1 is a pipe 11 in which is located a valve12.

The first step of the method consists in coating the article or thematerial from which the article is formed with a solution containingrubber. I prefer to coat a number of articles simultaneously, and thiscan be accomplished easily by placing the articles in the container 1 ofskeleton construction, or one made from perforated material, and thenimmersing-the receptacle in the rubber solution. This solution consistsof india rubber in a solvent such. for example, as bi-sulfid of carbon,naphtha, benzol, or any other suitable medium that india rubber issoluble in, it being immaterial what medium is used so long as thesolution containing rubber is produced.

The articles are left in the solution for a short period and are thendrawn out of same. and prior to the time they are immersed. during thetime they are in the solution, and after they have been withdrawn fromthe solution, they are subjected to a partial rvacuum created within thetank 1 by means of the vacuum pump 4:. This vacuum extracts the air fromthe pores of the material o that the solvent will penetrate thoroughlyinto the material during the time the articles are immersed, and thevacuum also tends to convert the solvent into a gas and extract aportion of it from the articles after they are withdrawn from thesolution, thus leaving a soft coating of rubber on each article.Practically the same degree of partial vacuum is maintained within thetank 1 prioixto the time the articles are immersed, during the time theyare immersed and after they have been withdrawn from the solution; andduring the time they are out of the solution, the container orreticulated receptacle 2 is being slowly rotated, therefore, agitatingthe entire-mass of articles, and the partial vacuum created andmaintained in the tank 1, tends to volatilize a portion of the-solventand the resultant gases are withdrawn from said tank 1 through the pipe5 and open valve 6. Thereafter, the articles are subjected to a blast0f. .air, gas or vapor under pressure, created by means of the air com:

pressor 7 and which blast or pressure forces the coating of rubber intothe pores of the material from which the articles are formed. Thisoperation of alternately subjecting the articles toa vacuum and airpressure and dipping them in the solution is repeated :1 number of timesuntil the articles or the material from which they are formed isthoroughly impregnated with rubber.

The articles can besubjected to a vacuum and to a blast of air or gas innumerous ways, but I prefer to place the receptacle in which thearticles are arranged inside of an air-tight tank containing a quantityof the solution previously referred to, then extracting the air from thetank so as to create a vacuum therein, and immerse the re-' ceptaclecontaining the articles in the solution.

The receptacle in which the articles are arranged is immersed in thesolution and withdrawn therefrom by means located outside of the tank,and the vacuum is maintained prior to the immersion of the receptacle,during the time that it remains immersed, and also for a short periodafter it has been withdrawn from the solution, thus volatilizing thesolvent in the solution and leaving a coating of rubber on each article,as previously stated. I prefer to agitate the articles during the timethey are immersed so that each article will be completely coated withthe solution. A blast of air or gas under pressure is admitted to thetank to destroy the vacuum after the articles have been drawn out of thesolution, and this blast of air forces the rubber into the pores of thearticles so as to thoroughly impregnate same. By slowly rotating thecontainer 2 after it has been withdrawn from the solution, and while thepartial vacuum is maintained in' the tank 1, the entire mass of articleswithin said container is agitated, thereby causing the solution to beevenlydistributed over the surfaces of the articles, and said solutionwill drain equally and evenly from said articles. After the operationsabove referred to have been repeated anumber of times so as to fill thepores of the articles with rubber, t'he articles are removed from saidtank and dried by any suitable means. I prefer to partially dry thearticles by subjecting them to a vacuum, then coat them with a powderwhich takes up the surface moisture, and finally complete to a vacuumfor a long enough period to dry them completely and thus eliminate theoperation of placing them in a drying oven. After the articles have beendried, they arevulcanized so as to make them insoluble in any solvent.Heat maybe employed for canized by the cold process; namely, placingthem in a receptacle that is chargedwith gas formed from chlorid ofsulfur or by immersing them in a diluted solution of ehlorid of sulfur.The final 'step of the method is to burnish the articles so as to imparta smooth and finished surface thereto, this being accomplished by anysuitable kind of burnishing mechanism.

As preveiously stated, this method is not limited tov the treatment ofpulp fiber materials or articles, but can be used for treating any kindof material that is porous or cellular enough to be saturated, the material being treated either before it is made into an article, or afterthe article has been formed. Furthermore, while I have herein shown anddescribed a pulp fiber bottle stopper as the product of my method, I donot wish it to be understood that my broad idea is limited to such anarticle, and where I have used the term article in the claims I mean toinclude any article that can be produced by the method herein described,the shape, configuration or use of the article being immaterial so faras my invention is concerned.

As stated in the first part of the specification, the solution cancontain either rubber or some other suitable substance, so that I do notwish to be understood as limiting my invention to a rubber solution or arubber coating. I have used the term rubher in the claims simply forsake of brevity and mean to include in this term any substance that issimilar to rubber.

A bottle stopper of fibrous or cellulose material produced in accordancewith my improved method, is disclosed in the patent \ulcanizing thearticles or they may be vulthe drying operation in a drying oven. Ifdesired, however, the articles can be subjectedissued to me May 24,1910, No. 959,225. The machine or apparatus for carrying out my improvedmethod is shown and described in the patent issued to myself and RudolphW. Goeb, September 20, 1910, No. 970,509.

What I claim is:

1. The method of treating a molded body of fibrous or cellulose materialwhich consists in subjecting the body of material to a vacuum in orderto extract the air from all of the pores and interstices in the body ofmaterial, then dipping the body of material into a solution consistingof rubber and a solvent, and agitating said body while the same isimmersed, then subjecting the body of material to a vacuum in order toextract a portion of the solvent from the pores and interstices in thebody of material, agitating said body after the same is withdrawn fromthe solution to cause said solution to spread evenly over the entiresurface of said body, and thereafter subjecting the body of material tofluid pressure, in order to force the rubber into the pores andinterstices in the body of material.

2. The method of treating a molded body of fibrous or cellulose materialwhich consists in subjecting the body of material to a vacuum in orderto extract the air from all of the pores and interstices in the body ofmaterial, then dipping the body of material into a solution consistingof rubber and a solvent and agitating said body While the same isimmersed, then subjecting the body of. material to a vacuum in order toextract a portion of the solvent from the pores and interstices in thebody of material, agitating said body after the same is Withdrawn fromthe solution to cause said solution to spread evenly over the entiresurface of said body, then subjecting the body of material to fluidpressure, in order to force the rubber into the pores and interstices inthe body of material, repeating these operations intermittently so as tothorou hly impregnate the entire body of material with the rubber, thendrying the body of material and thereafter vulcanizing it.

3. The method of treating a molded body of fibrous or cellulose materialwhich consists in subjecting the body of material to a vacuum in orderto extract the air from all of the pores and interstices in the body ofmaterial, then dipping the body of material into a solution consistin ofrubber and a solvent and agitating said body while the same is immersed,then subjecting the body of material to a vacuum in order to extract aportion of the solvent from the pores and interstices in the body ofmaterial, agitating said body after the same is withdrawn from thesolution to cau se said solution to spread evenly over the entiresurface of said body, then subjecting the body of material to fluidpressure, in. order to force the rubber into the pores and intersticesin the body of material, repeating these operations intermittently so asto thoroughly impregnate the entire body of material with therubber,then drying the body of material, then vulcanizing the rubber containedin said body, and then burnishing the surface of said body of material.

4. The herein described method of treating a molded article of fibrousor cellulose material, which consists in subjectin the article to avacuum to withdraw the air from the air cells and interstices in thebody of the article, then coating the article with a solution consistingof rubber and a solvent, agitating said body while the same is beingcoated, and after the coating has been applied, to cause the solution tobe evenly distributed over the entire surface of the body, thensubjecting the article to fluid pressure to force the rubber on thesurface of the article into the pores and interstices in the body ofsaid article, then repeating these operations until the pores andinterstices throughout the entire body of said article are filled withrubber, then vulcanizing the rubber filling the pores and interstices,and then burnishing the surface of the article.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 19th day of May 1908.

JOHN H. KETCHESON.

Witnesses:

WELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

